Episodes

Christianity has a long and romantic relationship with torture. The primary symbol of the religion is a torture device, God’s chosen method of providing salvation was a grisly act of public torture, and hell has been an object of fascination for Christian artists, writers, and church fathers since the beginning. As the religious scholar Karen … Continue reading CA35 The Gruesome History of Christian Torture →

Author Karen Garst joins me to discuss a range of topics, including the high level of religiosity among women, the influence of mythology, abortion, and her upcoming debate at Mythcon. She has recently released a book entitled Women v. Religion: The Case Against Faith and for Freedom, which is the primary subject of our conversation … Continue reading CA34 Women v. Religion — Conversation with Karen Garst →

The discovery of evolution by natural selection arguably did more to reinforce naturalism than any other single discovery in science. However, not everyone agrees that Darwinian evolution was a blow against god. In fact, Alvin Plantinga, a Christian apologist, thinks that you can’t believe both in Darwinism and naturalism simultaneously — they’re incompatible. We discuss … Continue reading CA33 Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (EAAN) →

Can abortion be morally justified? We know that Christians generally think it’s abhorrent; but once we’ve left religion behind, how should we draw a conclusion about such a contentious moral issue? Independent moral reasoning is something atheists, naturalists, and skeptics can’t avoid, so we shouldn’t shy away from intra-group discussion about one of the most … Continue reading CA31 The Ethics of Abortion →

Is western civilization a product of Judeo-Christian values? Apologists assert that Judeo-Christian values influenced the thinkers of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment so greatly as to deserve credit as the foundation of western values. So even if Judeo-Christian beliefs are entirely untrue, could the mythology could be a useful fiction that created the west as … Continue reading CA30 Western Values Are Based on Judeo-Christian Values →

Are we just electrified meat or is there a ghost in the machine? Believers claim that naturalism cannot account for the phenomenal properties of consciousness and tend to hold the position that the mind is more than the biological activity of the brain. We examine the conventional idea of the soul and how it conflicts … Continue reading CA29 Science vs. The Soul →

Christian apologists, citing a few twentieth-century regimes, often try to conflate atheism and authoritarianism. They ignore the fact that most atheists are secularists and don’t advocate for any form of state atheism. They also ignore the fact that the policies of the atheist states they cite, most frequently North Korea and the Soviet Union, were … Continue reading CA28 State Atheism →

Can consciousness only be explained on a theistic worldview? Christians often appeal to the phenomenon of consciousness and argue that it’s unlikely or impossible on naturalism. We discuss substance dualism, the hard problem of consciousness, identity, intentionality, and the unclear role the material realm plays in theism. CA Facebook CA Patreon Contact: emersongreen@protonmail.com Counter Apologetics … Continue reading CA27 Argument from Consciousness →

A forbidden religion, originally composed of only a few devoted followers, eventually swept the western world. Believers think that the rise of Christianity was so unusual to suggest it was miraculous, and they argue that the stunning growth and eventual size of their religion is evidence that God really is on their side. We explore … Continue reading CA26 The Spread of Christianity →

Christians claim that the majority of the disciples were martyred for their belief in the resurrection. They were tortured and killed in horrible ways, supposedly for their beliefs. And who would go through that for a lie? CA Patreon Follow me on Facebook Contact: emersongreen@protonmail.com Emerson’s Blog Rate the show on iTunes! Magic Tricks by … Continue reading CA25 Who Would Die for a Lie? →

Liar, lunatic, or lord? C.S. Lewis says we have to make our choice. Jesus must have been one of these three things, and there are definitely no other options. We also discuss the historical Jesus and clarify a detail from last week’s Easter episode regarding the women’s discovery of the empty tomb. I hope none … Continue reading The Trilemma: Lunatic, Liar, or Lord? — Easter Bonus →

Once we get past the bloody and bizarre Old Testament, it’s all “Love thy neighbor” and “Help the poor” from there, isn’t it? We’re expected to accept that Jesus was a wise moral teacher and that the New Testament is a valuable document of morals, even if we aren’t believers ourselves. But the goodness of … Continue reading CA23 The New Testament is Better →

If naturalism is true, why do so many people believe in god? What is it about human psychology that has made belief in god, in one form or another, the default position for the overwhelming majority of human beings that have ever lived? The theory of religion as a byproduct provides a potential answer. It’s … Continue reading CA22 The Byproduct Theory of Religion: Why We Believe in Gods →

Why would God hide? If God wants us to know he exists, he’s not off to a great start. Being invisible, silent, and undetectable in every way isn’t exactly what one would expect from a god who wants you to know the truth. The Bible says, “Seek, and ye shall find,” but not everyone who … Continue reading CA21 Divine Hiddenness →

What if you’re wrong? Aren’t you afraid of going to hell? Many Christians claim that their belief is the safe bet — they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We examine Pascal’s Wager and decide if one of the most popular arguments in favor of belief should make us lose as much sleep … Continue reading CA20 Pascal’s Wager →

Are good actions commanded by God because they are good? Or are good actions good because God commands them? We discuss Euthyphro’s Dilemma, the apologists’ favored “third horn” solution, and revisit the Problem of Holiness. … CA Patreon Follow us on Facebook and Twitter Contact: emersongreen@protonmail.com Emerson’s Blog Rate the show on iTunes; it’s objectively … Continue reading CA19 The Euthyphro Dilemma →

If humans have no free will, can we assign praise or blame? Is it reasonable to condemn someone as immoral in a deterministic universe? We explore the concept of moral responsibility in a naturalistic world and distinguish between causal and moral responsibility. We also examine the problem of moral luck, which makes a case for … Continue reading CA18 Moral Luck and Responsibility (Free Will pt. II) →